Robert J. Havighurst was an influential American developmental psychologist and educator who developed a theory of human development and identified developmental tasks occurring at different life stages from infancy to old age. He recognized that developmental tasks arise from physical maturation, personal values, and societal pressures. Some key developmental tasks he identified included learning to walk and talk in infancy, getting along with peers and developing gender roles in childhood and adolescence, selecting an occupation and starting a family in early adulthood, assisting teenage children in middle age, and adjusting to retirement and reduced mobility in later life. Havighurst stressed the importance of teachers helping students accomplish developmental tasks appropriate for their age.

1. Robert J. HavighurstDevelopmentalTasks

2. His life..(June 5, 1900 in De Pere, Wisconsin – January 31, 1991 in Richmond, Indiana) was a professor, physicist, educator, and aging expert. Educational theory before Havighurst was basically old school where children learned by rote and little concern was given to how children developed. From 1948 to 1953 he developed his highly influential theory of human development and education. The crown jewel of his research was on developmental task.

3. Havighurst identified Six Major Stages in human life covering birth to old age: Infancy & early childhood (Birth - 6 years old)Middle childhood (6–13 years old)Adolescence (13–18 years old)Early Adulthood (19–30 years old)Middle Age (30-60years old)

4. Later maturity (60 years old and over)From there, Havighurst recognized that each human has three sources for developmental tasks. Which are:Tasks that arise from physical maturation: Learning to walk, talk, control of bowel and urine, behaving in an acceptable manner to opposite sex, adjusting to menopause. Tasks that arise from personal values: Choosing an occupation, figuring out ones philosophical outlook. Tasks that have their source in the pressures of society: Learning to read, learning to be responsible citizen.

5. Developmental tasks(Ages 0–6)Learning to: Walk

6. Crawl

7. Take solid food

8. Talk

9. Control the elimination of body wastes

10. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty

11. Getting ready to read

12. Forming concepts

13. Learning language to describe social and physical reality. (Ages 6–18)Learning:Get along with age mates.

14. Physical skills necessary for ordinary games